Boiler Schemes

What Boiler Schemes are available?

There are a number of boiler schemes available for households looking to improve their homes energy efficiency. These include the Boiler Grants; a government scheme funded by energy companies to help low income households get a new boiler, the Green Deal Finance Scheme that helps you improve your carry out energy efficiency improvements without an upfront cost, and the Government Boiler Scrappage Scheme which although is currently unavailable has helped thousands of households upgrade their aging boilers. Below we have given a brief a summary of each boiler scheme.

Boiler Grants

The Government introduced the Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) in January 2013, to support people living in fuel poverty. They set up the Boiler Grant, enabling tenants and homeowners to replace their boilers for a newer, more energy efficient Grade ‘A’ condensing boiler. To qualify, you have to meet certain criteria.

Tenants or homeowners who qualify for a boiler grant will be contacted by a qualified Home Energy Assessor who will survey their home and arrange a date for a new boiler to be installed. New boilers are usually installed within three or four weeks of the application. Find out more about Boiler Grants.

Green Deal

The Green Deal was launched on January 28th 2013. The aim is to encourage tenants and homeowners to take steps to ensure their home is as energy efficient as possible. This is achieved by providing upfront finance in the form of a loan for energy saving improvements. Improvement measures available include:

The Green Deal scheme is a four step process: Assessment, finance, installation and repayment. To arrange a Green Deal loan, a visit from an assessor accredited with the Green Deal Quality Mark is required. They will provide a quote for a Green Deal plan and an advice report. This costs around £100 and will also include an Energy Performance Certificate and occupancy assessment.

Green Deal loans are managed by The Green Deal Finance Company, which provides the money to companies involved in the scheme.

Government Boiler Scrappage Scheme

The UK Government Boiler Scrappage Scheme was introduced by the coalition Government on January 5th 2010. The scheme ended on June 30th 2012. It was made available in England, Wales and Scotland but not Northern Ireland.

The aim of the scheme was to help up to 125,000 households with replacing their boilers with a newer, more fuel efficient heating system – saving money and reducing energy waste. It was expected to save the average household between £200 to £235 on fuel bills and reduce carbon emissions by 125,000 tonnes a year. Furthermore, it provided a much needed boost to the heating industry.

The Government allocated £50 million to the scheme and it was managed and operated by the Energy Saving Trust. The scheme offered an allowance of £400 in the form of a voucher to go towards the cost of a replacement boiler. Some energy companies also match funded this £400.

In order to qualify, households must have had a category ‘G’ boiler that was operating at less than 70% efficiency and at least 15 years old, or at least 25 years old if the boiler was oil fired. Households had to check their boiler’s efficiency rating, apply for quotes for a new boiler and contact the Energy Savings Trust.

The scheme was successful: A large number of households applied for the scheme and awareness of energy efficiency was raised. In total 133,976 vouchers were allocated and 118, 249 boilers were installed.